AN East Renfrewshire couple have been handed a £5,000 grant to help people use football to boost their mental health.

Time to Tackle is run by former professional player Aaron Connolly and his wife Siobhan, who is a hospital nurse.

They started the group in October 2019 after Aaron had attempted to take his own life while suffering depression.

It has given men and women the chance to take part in five-a-side games before meeting as a group with Aaron and Siobhan afterwards to discuss their mental health problems.

Time to Tackle was among 13 groups across Scotland to secure a share of £65,000 from the Scottish Government’s social enterprise start-up agency Firstport.

The couple launched the project at Rouken Glen Park, in Giffnock, 15 months ago, with seven people in attendance.

Since then, hundreds of men and women across the country have joined the football sessions as part of their road to recovery.

Now the couple are set to open 14 new groups, once lockdown restrictions are lifted, to deal with the growing demand for their services.

Aaron told the Barrhead News: “One of the main problems people with mental health suffer is loneliness and isolation.

“Football helps to get them out of the house to meet other like-minded people and also to simply socialise.

“After the football, we meet in a room at the venue and encourage the players to open up with each other through the support group.

“We can also help people access the correct services to get help if they haven’t already done so.”

Aaron, who played as a striker, says the funding will help to establish groups in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife and Lanarkshire.

He started Time to Tackle after spending a month in a psychiatric ward in 2019.

“When I came out of hospital, there was nothing there for someone like me to go to,” said Aaron, who lives in Newton Mearns. “I had tried support groups in the past but there was no connection.

“I realised football had given me an escape when things were tough.

I also realised we could use football to help others in the same way.

“We now see a whole spectrum of people with mental illness.”
For more information about the support group, visit www.timetotackle.co.uk.